The present invention relates generally to heat-transfer labels and relates more particularly to heat-transfer labels well-suited for labeling fabrics.
It is customary for manufacturers of garments and other finished fabrics (e.g., towels, bed linens, tablecloths, etc.) to attach thereto one or more labels that display various items of information, such as article size, fiber content, instructions for care, and the manufacturer's name or trademark. Such labels, which are to be contrasted with hanging price tags and the like, are typically not intended to be removed by the consumer after the purchase of the article, but rather, are intended to be permanently affixed to the article. In fact, such labels are commonly known in the industry as permanent care labels and typically comprise a small piece of cloth which is sewn directly onto the article, said small piece of cloth bearing the information described above.
Unfortunately, the presence of a permanent care label on certain articles, such as undergarments or other garments in which the label is in direct contact with the wearer's skin, can become irritating to the wearer. As a result, it is not uncommon for a wearer of such a garment to remove the permanent care label, typically by cutting or simply by ripping the permanent care label from the garment. However, as can readily be appreciated, such a practice not only results in a loss of the information contained on the label but the act of cutting or ripping the permanent care label from the garment can also result in significant damage to the garment, itself.
One approach to this problem has been to replace the aforementioned permanent care cloth label sewn onto the garment with a heat-transfer label applied to the garment. One such type of heat-transfer label construction comprises (a) a support portion, said support portion including (i) a polyester film carrier having a thickness of about 4 mil; and (ii) a polyacrylate/ester/silicone release of about 3 microns applied to the top of said carrier; and (b) a transfer portion, said transfer portion including (i) a protective layer, said protective layer being positioned directly on top of the release layer and having a thickness of about 3.5 microns; (ii) one or more ink layers positioned on top of the protective layer and having a thickness of about 5-9 microns; and (iii) a heat-activatable polyester/ester/silicone adhesive layer, said adhesive layer being positioned on top of the one or more ink layers and having a thickness of about 2 mil and a melting temperature of about 102-113° C. Typically, the support portion is in the form of an elongated web, with a plurality of discrete transfer portions being spaced thereover. In use, the garment to be labeled is set on a mandrel, and the heat-transfer label construction is inverted so that the adhesive layer of one of its transfer portions is positioned over the garment. A heated press is then brought down on top of the support portion to press the adhesive layer of the transfer portion against the garment and to heat the label construction through the support portion. The heating of the construction causes the activation of the adhesive layer against the garment. The heated press is then removed from the support portion, and the heated construction is allowed to cool on the garment. Once the heated construction has cooled sufficiently, the support portion is peeled away from the transfer portion, resulting in a labeled garment. The label construction may then be advanced so that another transfer portion is aligned with the mandrel, and the process may then be repeated for another garment.
One problem with the heat-transfer label described above is that the transfer portion, once applied to a garment, must be allowed to cool prior to the peeling away of the support portion therefrom. If such a period of time is not provided to permit the heated transfer portion to cool, the release of the transfer portion from the support portion will not be clean, and the transfer portion will not transfer completely to the garment. This is problematic because the cooling step, which can have a duration in the range of several seconds up to one or more minutes, adds time to the labeling process, thereby limiting the throughput of the process.
Another problem with the heat-transfer label described above is that, once the transfer portion of the heat-transfer label has been printed, the particular array of information displayed by the label is fixed and cannot thereafter be altered or supplemented. As can readily be appreciated, where a garment labeler (e.g. garment manufacturer, garment distributor, etc.) needs to label more than one type and/or size of garment, such an absence of flexibility in label content is undesirable since it requires the garment labeler to have on-hand pre-printed labels of every possible type in sufficient quantity to label every article with an appropriate label. Such a requirement for labels of every type in sufficient quantity often results in the undesirable purchase and storage of more labels than are actually used. Clearly, it would be desirable to have labels that are customizable in content, preferably printed with variable information by the garment labeler, so that such labels may be printed as needed.
Documents relating to the labeling of garments using heat-transfer technology include the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,466, inventors Hare et al., which issued Jul. 23, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,710, inventors Hare et al., which issued May 7, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,772, inventors Magill et al., which issued Sep. 29, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,783, inventor Mahn, Jr., which issued May 2, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,349, inventor Mahn, Sr., which issued Nov. 22, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,795, inventors Day et al., which issued Mar. 17, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,559, inventors Day et al., which issued Nov. 16, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,555, inventors Day et al., which issued May 25, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,499, inventors Day et al., which issued Nov. 18, 1975; and U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 28,542, inventor Meyer, which reissued Sep. 2, 1975.